Parents of pupils at Madras College in St Andrews have demanded faster progress in bringing its replacement to fruition.
The Madras College Parent Council said concern was mounting about how long it was taking to agree a way forward to deliver a new school for the town. Fife Council hopes to have the £50 million school ready in just over three years’ time.
Consultation on the principle of constructing the school on university land to the west of the town concluded last month and detailed planning has yet to begin. However, parent council chairman John Barnett said, “In order for the timetable of a spring 2014 opening to be achieved, I would have expected there to have been agreement by now on the exact location of the new single site.
“The continuing delay and absence of any information on the status of the negotiations is causing some anxiety and speculation among parents and others in the community.”
Mr Barnett said that, while it was appreciated that important and sensitive issues relating to the proposed site must be properly discussed and agreed between the council and the university, negotiations were taking far longer than many people had expected.
“The statutory public consultation has now been concluded and a report on the outcome is expected imminently from HMIe,” he said. “I would be very surprised if the published result reflected anything less than a large majority in favour of the proposal to build the new single-site school on the suggested site on the North Haugh on land owned by the university.
“There exists a high level of expectation among parents and children throughout the Madras College catchment area that the detailed planning for the new school on that single site should commence soon.”
While discussions drag on, Mr Barnett said the existing campuses at South Street and Kilrymont Road continued to deteriorate. Toilet facilities are to be improved, but he said, “Teachers having to travel between the two sites results in significantly reduced pupil contact time.
“These negative factors are to the continued detriment of the educational provision offered to local children, as successive HMIe reports have made clear. On behalf of the parents and pupils of Madras College I have therefore called on the negotiating teams of the university and Fife Council to move towards reaching final agreement on the favoured North Haugh site as soon as possible.
“With the goodwill that I know exists on both sides I have no doubt that agreement can be reached in the near future on how this exciting and unique project can be achieved in the best interests of all the stakeholders.”
A report on the replacement project is to be given at the next parent council meeting on March 9.